Duwisib Guest Farm Namibia
How about spending your next Namibia self-drive holidays a bit different from the usual living out of suitcases and sleeping in a new bed every other day?
Staying put for five to seven days in some or each of just a handful of ideally located places around the country provides repeat visitors with wonderful opportunities for finding true relaxation and gaining in-depth knowledge of their favourite parts of Namibia.
Duwisib Guest Farm is one of such places – far enough away from any human settlement to really get away from it all, and yet close enough to major sightseeing highlights of southern Namibia to spice up your farm holidays with excursions whenever you feel like wanting some action.
A choice of reasonably priced accommodation options and clean camping sites with modern ablution facilities at Duwisib will probably just be the cherry on top because there is so much to experience in the immediate and greater surroundings of our guestfarm.
Let’s start off with what you’ll find at your doorstep when booking farm holidays at Duwisib:
Once the half-day’s journey from Windhoek lies behind you, you are surrounded by the fascinatingly diverse and remote landscapes of southern Namibia’s interior where the grassy savannahs and medium-altitude mountain ranges to the west of the country’s western escarpment give way to the plains and sand dune belts of the Namib Desert.
The Duwisib Valley has got a particularly intimate feel to it for its comparatively small size and being flanked by mountains to the north and south. When entering the valley from the east, its flat interior comes as a bit of surprise to the unsuspecting traveller, while its western end is like a window to the Namib Desert. There is only one public road (see D826 on our location map image) running through the valley, and Duwisib Castle is one of the very few visible man-made structures along its entire length.
Our Duwisib Guest Farm facilities are located in the foothills of the valley’s northern mountains, immediately behind the castle, with the remainder of our 6000 ha farmlands surrounding the historic building in all directions.
The forge, cattle enclosures and horse training facilities that once used to serve Duwisib’s owners as well as the quarry that provided the building stones for the original Duwisib structures are nowadays all part of Duwisib Guest Farm and may be visited by our overnight guests free of charge. Fans of antique colonial farm equipment will be delighted to see a horse cart, the forge’s huge bellows and various farm implements from the late 1800’s in their original state. More antiques, especially household items, weapons and paintings from the same era, are on display inside Duwisib Castle.
Apart from being able to enjoy a variety of farm animals and some free-roaming game on Duwisib Farm, you are free to take unguided walks across the savannahs and to vantage points overlooking the tranquil valley. Only the chatter of birds, the love songs of insects and the occasional calls of our cattle and horses fill the air while you admire gnarled old camel-thorn trees carrying the heavy burden of giant nests of communal weaver birds, the most beautiful flowers of otherwise unpretentious hoodia plants and the rare find of a big rock used by rhinos in days long gone to sharpen their horns.
Here you are enticed and welcome to let your soul and your thoughts roam freely. Soak up the African sun, the all-embracing peacefulness of nature, and the brightest star-studded night skies you’ve probably ever seen to your heart’s content. And if you feel like enjoying sundowners on a mountain top, we will be there to take you to the best spot with a Namib Desert view, with our off-road vehicle.
Your excursion options are plentiful, if you have your own or a hired vehicle at your dispospal. Some of the following suggestions for outings will require a very early departure to make the most of what is on offer and to get back to Duwisib before nightfall – distances in Namibia are generally great and most travelling is on gravel roads yet there is also hardly any traffic, especially in our part of southern Namibia:
A leisurely day excursion takes you almost full-circle around the Tiras Mountains, travelling south on road D707 along the border of the Namib-Naukluft-Park, with desert landscapes covered in orange-coloured sand on the one side and rugged mountains rising out of grassy plains on the other. Helmeringhausen, a tiny settlement from the early days of European colonisation, is the perfect place for a lunch-time break at the local hotel. On your way back to Duwisib, you get a close-up view of Namibia’s western escarpment and the eerily deserted landscapes at its foot.
Another wonderful way to spend a day of sightseeing involves a trip to a lodge situated near the village of Aus where a guided farm excursion takes you into the Succulent Karoo of southern Namibia. Alternatively, combine a visit to the feral horses of the Namib west of Aus with lunch at the lodge and a walk on the farm.
The historic harbour town of Luderitz and the 19th century diamond-digger paradise of Kolmanskop are also worthwhile a day visit from/to Duwisib Guest Farm.
If you are willing to put in a bit more driving, famous Namibian attractions such Sossusvlei and the Sesriem Canyon in the Namib Dune Desert to the north of Duwisib, and the majestic Fish River Canyon to the south may be explored. Visitors will find restaurant and re-fuelling facilities at both these destinations.
More options for sightseeing excursions are available and although we regrettably cannot guide you to any of these places of interest, we will gladly provide you with information while you spend your farm holidays at Duwisib Guest Farm.
